The Photography Show 2015 N.E.C. Birmingham (Part Two) . . .

. . . The following is a summary of those exhibits I felt had a relevance to Street Photography . . .

. . . My eyes have been opened to a whole other world – that of the ‘jobbing’ photographer. In particular and if my feet are anything to go by, I have gained a newfound respect for those who make it their living.

I’d made a point of arriving at the show some 30 minutes before the doors were due to open, in anticipation of finding a good parking spot (near Hall 5) and in the hope of beating the ‘mad rush’. Sadly it appeared that everyone else had the same idea. Doubly sadly and not knowing the layout of the N.E.C, the carpark I was directed to was some 1/2 mile from the Photography Show. Oh well.

After what seemed like an eternal walk, I’d arrived at the entrance to the show and was greeted by an immense gathering, everyone congregated in anticipation of the large black curtain being removed – and there I stood at the back. “This is gonna take forever” I thought . . .

Then something totally unexpected happened. Out of nowhere a lady in a suit approached, looked at the Press Pass hanging round my neck and said “follow me”. With that I was escorted at breakneck speed and through the seemingly impregnable throng of bodies. In no time, I found myself on the other side of the curtain. Thank you, whoever you were.

First stop was at the Fuji stand and here I managed to arrange a loan of an X100T for the whole of Monday! I’m particularly keen to evaluate the new Focus Assist Patch that’s now a feature of the X100T’s viewfinder. My initial reaction having tried it on the stand is that it was instantly very useful and a sinch to use.

Then I made my way to the Ricoh stand to see what they’d been up to. I had fond memories of the GR3 that I’d owned a few years ago. Here they had a new model, the GR Limited Edition. I have to say that I was stunned by the Auto Focus and the Metering, ready to take the shot and exposed faultlessly, no matter the lighting conditions and as soon as the shutter is half-pressed.

After grabbing a quick coffee, it was by chance that I next stumbled upon Lomography. Their stand was certainly colorful and eye catching.

As well as displaying new Micro-Four-Thirds solid brass lenses with interchangeable aperture inserts, and made by Zenit . . .

. . . There was also a surprise for the Leica shooters – A new Russar+ 20mm f/5.6 Rangefinder Coupled L39/M Mount lens . . .

. . . As a bonus, this superwide lens is a very reasonable £499 in the UK.

Moving on to portable storage, Western Digital have a great offer on their 2TB My Passport wireless backup drives. Usually £199, but £179 at the Photography Show only.

Of course it’s not just new equipment that’s for sale at the show. The Disabled Photographers Society has a great stand selling all manner of used cameras, flashes, tripods, bags etc . . .

By this time my legs had covered some distance, so stopped for 5 minutes to rest and enjoy a bottle of water – and joining other like-minded photographers on the floor of one of the many aisles. When in Rome? 🙂

Suitably recuperated, my next stop was at Rollei.

It was nice to see them at the show, and after speaking to one of the representatives, she hinted that (all being well) a new investor was keen to get onboard . . .

. . . Fingers crossed Rollei will still be with us for years to come.

The final exhibit of interest today was one close to my heart – film.

Kitschretro specialises in supplying expired and hard to find films, in various formats. It was great to see my old favourite, Kodachrome 64 (ah, those were the days).

Not surprisingly it was (and continues to be) one of my most retweeted tweets of the day.

By now, seven hours had gone by, and it felt like it. I could really have done with one of the free massages being offered by Olympus.

However with the initial rush now complete, tomorrows plan is to take it a bit easier. Monday will involve taking the Leica X and the Fuji X100T to Birmingham for a Street review. So for now, I’ll leave you with two of my favourite pictures of the day at the UK Photography Show 2015. Cheers,

Hi Kevin,
It was nice talking to your yesterday near the coffee shop (when we both queued to buy something). Thanks for your advice about how to build up confidence in street photography. Thanks for your time.